Troglodyte
//ˈtɹɑɡlədaɪt// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A member of a supposed prehistoric race that lived in caves or holes, a caveman.
- 2 someone who lives in a cave wordnet
- 3 Anything that lives underground. broadly
"The cave was populated by albino scorpions, blind salamanders, and other troglodytes."
- 4 one who lives in solitude wordnet
- 5 The Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes.
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- 6 A reclusive, reactionary or out-of-date person, especially if brutish. derogatory
"Blair brought out the febrile intensity of Stanhope, wiring himself into his ever more circumscribed troglodyte world, speculating moodily on the worm that went down when it thought it was coming up. Robert Philp thought Blair's ..."
- 7 A person who chooses not to keep up to date with the latest software and hardware.
Example
More examples"The cave was populated by albino scorpions, blind salamanders, and other troglodytes."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin trōglodyta (“cave-dwelling person”), from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”), from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “to get into”).
Related phrases
More for "troglodyte"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.